The 1959 and 1960 protests in Japan against the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty (ANPO) reflected public discontent with military alliances and foreign influence, as well as a desire for national autonomy and peace after World War II. Within this context, many Japanese intellectuals drew connections between their struggles and those of marginalized groups worldwide, incorporating themes of revolution and resistance against oppressive regimes, thus creating a rich cultural dialogue with other regions. This talk will provide a brief history of the connections between Latin America, left-wing politics, and Japanese literature in the post-war period, highlighting writers who exemplify the development of this connection.

Matias Chiappe Ippolito is Researcher-Professor of Japanese Literature at the Center for Asian and African Studies (CEAA) at El Colegio de México. He was also a Lecturer and Researcher at the Faculty of Letters of Waseda University in Tokyo, where he completed his Ph.D. with a dissertation on the relationship between Japanese and Latin American literature. He holds a Master’s in Japanese Studies from El Colegio de México and his undergraduate was in Comparative Literature at the University of Buenos Aires. He has translated several Japanese authors into Spanish, including Hōjō Tamio (La primera noche de vida, Editorial También el Caracol, 2024), Ango Sakaguchi (Ango Sakaguchi, farsas y ensayos, Editorial Evaristo, 2023), and Hagiwara Sakutarō (Gato azul, Editorial Noctámbula, 2021), among others.